Induction Year: 2023

Roger Bartley, graduate of Mount Union College and Regent University, must be defined as a renaissance man. He is a man of community service; a businessman; an instructor; an administrator in education; an author; a public speaker. As a businessman, Roger is the fifth generation funeral director and owner of Bartley Funeral Home in Minerva and Deckman-Bartley Funeral Home in Malvern. In 1976, Roger became the area’s first paramedic, and he helped organize the EMS system of paramedics and life support in Minerva. As an instructor, he was Safety Program’s Chairman for the Minerva Chapter of the American Red Cross. In this position, Roger brought CPR and first aid instruction to both Minerva and Malvern High Schools. As a man of community service, Roger has been active in Rotary in Minerva and Malvern and has served as president of both organizations. He is involved in the Minerva Area Community Foundation, an organization he helped found. As a youth, Roger was an Eagle Scout and represented all the Scouts in the State of Ohio in 1968, presenting the Report of Scouting to Governor James A. Rhodes. One can see his name engraved at the entrance of the Minerva Public Library for time served as vice-president and president of the Minerva Public Library Board. Mr. Bartley has sponsored Field of Honor flag displays in both Minerva and Malvern consisting of 800 plus flags each time. As an administrator in education, Roger Bartley served as a Foundation Officer for Regent University and was director of development for Penn Christian Academy and Charlotte Christian School. As an author, Mr. Bartley has written prolifically for local, national, and international media. He wrote and published Henry Muselle’s Treasure, a fictional account of a search for the Minerva Lost French Gold. Furthermore, he published the Minerva Bicentennial History Book. From middle school through adulthood, Roger has been a frequent public speaker starting with presentations with his father, Leroy Bartley, about their trip by boat from Minerva to Marietta, later at Memorial Day celebrations and at the Minerva Historical Society, speaking about his favorite local English poet, Ralph Hodgson, who lived and died in Minerva, Ohio.